Work-holder.



E. C. GERBER.

WORK HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY zo, 1913.

1,092,038. Patented 11211311914.

EMIL CURTIS'GERBER, OF ST, JOSEPH, MISSOURI.

WORK-HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 31. 1914.

Application led Hay 29, 1913. Serial N o. 770,701.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, EMIL CURTIS GERBER, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Joseph, in the county of Buchanan and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Work-Holders; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. L

This invention relates to improvements in work holders.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple and eiiicient device for holding cuffs, collars, pocket flaps and the -like while the superposed layers or plies forming said articles are being stitched together around the edges.

Another object is to provide a device of this character having means for engaging the feed rack of a sewing machine for uni-fy formly guiding it during the stitching operation and also provided with means for guiding the pressure foot ofthe machine to insure a straight row of stitching around the edge of the article.

With these and otherA objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, and the combination and arrangement of parts as will be more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 represents a plan view of a portio-n of a sewing machine with this improved device applied; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the device with the leaves thereof in open position and in the same plane showing the rack engaging means and the pressure foot guiding means; Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken through the device in closed operative position and showing the article retaining means.

In the embodiment illustrated a work holder is shown composed of two leaves 1 and 2 of uniform shape and size hinged together at one edge and having their free edges shaped to conform to the shape of the cuff or flap it is desired to hold. These leaves may be constructed of any suitable material such as fiber, aluminum or other metal and are provided with means for engaging and holding the material in position between said leaves, said means being here shown in the form of spaced pins 3 secured to the inner face of one leaf and which are designed to pass through apertures 4 in the other leaf. One of these leaves has a guide strip 5 secured to its outer face adjacent the free edge thereof, said strip being spaced from said edge a distance equal to the width of one-half of the pressure foot of a sewing machine to permit the outer portion of said foot to rest on the ledge formed by said strip and which copcrates with said strip to gulde the clamp or holder relatively to the needle of the machine, a row of stitching being formed adjacent the free edge of the leaves as is shown clearly in Fig. 1. On the outer face of the other leaf around the edge thereof 1s secured a toothed metal strip 6, the teeth 7 thereof being constructed to conform to the teeth of the feeding rack of a sewing machine and which are adapted to engage with said rack teeth and be guided thereby in the passage of the work holder durin the stitching of the article held thereby. s shown this strip 6 is riveted in a recess 8 formed around the edge of the leaf to which it is applied whereby the teeth 7 are disposed Hush with the outer face of said leaf and the outer edge of said strip Hush with the outer or free edge of said leaf.

In the use of this holder the article to be stitched, for instance, a shirt or shirtwaist cuff which is composed of two or more layers or plies of material and which conform substantially in shape to the shape of the holder is placed between the leaves 1 and 2. The pins 3 are passed through said cuff into the apertures L1 in the other leaf and thus securely hold the cuff in position. The clamp is then applied to a sewin Y machine in the position shown in Fig. 1 with the teeth 7 of the strip 6 engaged with the teeth of the feeding rack of the machine so that the operation of the machine when stitching will cause the holder to be fed simultaneously therewith, the pressure foot being arranged on the projecting ledge of the leaf having the strip 5 thereon, whereby said holder is guided and a straight row of stitching insured.

While a substantially rectangular holder is here shown having rounded corners, it will be obvious that a holder having any other shaped edge may be employed.

While I have described my invention with more or less minuteness as regards details and as being embodied in certain precise forms, I do not desire to be limited thereto unduly any more than is pointed out in the claim. On the contrary, I contemplate all proper changes in form, construction and arrangement, the omlssion of immatenal elements and substitution of equivalents as'cireulnstances may suggest or render expedient.

I claim as m invention:

A work hol er forsewing machines provided with the usual presser foot having a needle slot, said holder comprising two leaves hinged together at one edge and one provided on its outer face with a guide strip secured thereto adjacent the free edge thereof and spaced from said edge a distance equal to the width of the portion of the pressure foot outside the needle slot, the other leaf having means on its outer face at its free edge adapted to coact with the feed rack of a sewing machine for feeding said holder during the stitching operation and coperating means on said leaves for holding the fabric in position between said leaves.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

L. O. SCHAEFER, C. F. OLSON. 

